Lady and the Champ
by willcryptograham
Summary: Clint had planned what he is absolutely sure will be the best date Natasha has ever been on, so of course, things go wrong. Rated M for language.


Natasha fired a few shots at the wall. He was late. That bitch was _late_. Really late. She sighed and put the gun down on the table. She heard the door creak and whipped around. "Clint, you are _so_ late and-" she paused. "Shit." Steve stood timidly in the doorway.

"I- sorry, Nat."

"Don't call me Nat," she snapped interrupting him.

"Sorry, sorry." he backed out of the doorway, "Just- Nick asked if you could quiet down a little?" She sighed.

"Fine. Clint is late. Again."

"Oh. I'm- do you want me to look for him?" asked Steve quietly.

"I already looked." she grumbled. "He's not here." Steve looked down and let out a lengthy breath.

"Okay. Um. I'm just- I have to… If you need anything, let me know, yeah?"

"Sure." she mumbled. And just as he was about to leave the room, door almost closed... "It's my birthday." Steve stopped and turned around again.

"Oh… that's... Happy Birthday. This is really... really… unlike Clint..." He bit his lip. "Look I'm sorry, I need to go."

"Okay, okay go." Natasha turned away from the door and crossed her arms. "If you see him, tell him I'm going to kill him." Steve nodded and then realized she couldn't see him.

"Oh- okay, um I'll do… that." Steve turned and left the room, in a bit of a hurry. He left fuming Natahsa in the room, and dashed down the hallway. "Clint, she's really mad." Clint froze.

"Shit. Is that what the gunshots were?"Steve nodded. "Okay, okay. Um…" Clint picked the flowers off the table and straightened his tie.

He started down the hallway, and Steve walked alongside him. "Okay, okay, look I know this is a sweet romantic gesture, but she has a gun." Clint nodded, "I can handle it, it's okay." They arrived at the door and Clint put his fingers to his lips, and Steve walked away, crossing his fingers. Clint pushed the door open quietly, "Natasha?" he asked, in his best sexy voice. It did not work, and Natasha spun around and fired a shot- it whizzed past his ear. They heard Steve crash into something.

"Steve?" Natasha called into the hallway. "Steve?" she raised her voice.

She shoved Clint out of the doorway. "No, no I'm fine." came his voice from the other room. "Just- go back. To- Please?" Natasha opened the door and saw Steve on the floor with a puppy in his lap. "Steve, what the hell?" She asked, arching an eyebrow. Clint slid into the doorway. "Happy Birthday, Natasha." He held out the now slightly crushed flowers.

"You got me a puppy?" she asked, turning on her heel. "Seriously?"

Clint looked at his shoes for a moment. "Yeah, I thought that you'd-" She stopped him, putting a finger on his lips.

"Blink once for girl, twice for boy." Two. "Okay. we're naming him Tony, you're going to apologize in the other room, yeah?" He backed away from her hand and left. "Can you look after him Steve?" she asked, not waiting for an answer. When Natasha went back into the room, Clint was standing, anxiously fiddling with his clothes.

"Look, I can explain, it was a whole fiasco."

Natasha plopped down on a nearby chair and crossed her legs. "Well?" Clint sat across from her and pulled his chair close to hers, causing her to glare at him.

"Look," he said reaching for her hands, but she looked at him pointedly and he moved away, "I wanted to do something special for you, and I thought you'd like him…" Natasha stood up, but Clint caught her hand, she turned, eyebrows furrowed. "Look, Nat-"

"Don't call me Nat."

"Natasha. I'm so sorry. I'm not good at taking care of things." The redhead jerked her hand away.

"No shit." Clint squeezed his eyes shut.

"How late was I?"

"An hour, Clint. A fucking hour." He got up and chased her across the room.

"I'm sorry, Bruce wouldn't put him down-"

"Don't make _excuses_ Clint." He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her around. She just looked at him. "What? _What_, Clint?" He figured it would be a good time to give up and kiss her, and to his surprise, she didn't punch him in the face.

Clint pulled away, smiling. _Then_ Natahsa punched him in the face. "_Shit_, what was that?" She shot him an incredulous look.

"Don't be late next time, got it?" Clint nodded, and dejectedly slumped down in a chair as she left the room. He was about to get up and go when she came back in, twice as fast as she left, grabbing him by his tie and kissing him hard on the mouth. "Happy Birthday Natasha." she said sarcastically.

"H- happy birth- day? Natasha?" he stuttered back. She rolled her eyes but couldn't hold back a little smile. Clint raised his eyebrows.

"Shut up." she called, halfway down the hallway. Steve stepped into the hallway, Tony under his arm. "Happy Birthday, Nat." he said, putting an arm around her shoulders. She smirked at him, and took the puppy from his arms. With a peck on the cheek and then a little smile she was gone to her room.

Steve peered down the hallway and looked at Clint. "You've got a lot to learn." Clint groaned.

"Don't rub it in," he grumbled, turning the ring around in his pocket. Tonight just wasn't the night. Soon the time would come. Soon. He hoped to God she'd say yes.

* * *

Natasha woke up with a start, shot up and swiped her gun off of the side table and pointed it at… "Clint, jesus what are you doing in here?" He sat, tensed.

"Could you put the gun down first?" She obliged, still not letting down her guard. She'd never let on, but she was still upset about last night. It bothered her when Clint wasn't himself. He sat next to her on the bed. "I came to apologize, but you were sleeping, I coughed, and you tried to kill me." She smirked.

"Well, I am a trained assassin."

He arched an eyebrow, "So am I," and then shaking his head he added, "Look, I screwed up yesterday-"

"Yes, you did."

"And I was nervous-"

"_Nervous_?"

"Nat-"

"I told you not to call me Nat."

"I always call you Nat."

"Not when I'm pissed off at you." He took her hands and dragged her out of bed. She groaned, still groggy, "It's too early for this." And with that, Clint sunk down on one knee and pulled the ring out of his pocket.

"Natasha Romanoff will you-"

"Holy shit."

"…do me the honor-"

"Clint, oh my god."

"…of becoming my wife?" She blinked. "Yes," she said with a little smile, "But it is _so_ earl-" he stopped her, kissing her a little to enthusiastically, and the two stumbled into the table, knocking the gun to the floor. Natasha pulled away. "Wait. Okay, okay stop, we're going to kill someone. Or the dog." He let out a small laugh of relief.

"I love you."

She kissed him, but only a peck this time. "I love you too. Now get out, I'm in my pajamas." Clint still hadn't let go of his new fiancee. She shoved him off, grinning. "So this is how you're apologizing for being late to my birthday date?" He finally made his way to the door.

"It's why I was late." She looked at him smugly.

"You _were_ nervous, weren't you?"

"See you later, Nat."

"You aren't allowed to call me Nat yet!" He stopped in the doorway.

"I just _proposed_. And you said yes!"

"Yes," she said, "Now get out I'm changing."

Clint laughed and shook his head, walking to the door a little too slowly. Natasha, biting her lip to keep from laughing, kicked his ass. Literally. He spun around.

"_Nat_!" he stopped, unable to say much else. She grinned at him. "Jesus," he mumbled scratching his head. She arched an eyebrow at him. "Okay, getting out now."

"I'll see you in ten minutes, we're walking Tony." Clint cocked his head.

"What?"

"The dog."

"Right."

"Hold on, when did I agree to this?"

"Isn't this what married people are supposed to do?"

"Well, I don't know."

"I guess we'll have to work from dog walking."

Clint shrugged. "Good by me."

"Good."

"Good." he grinned, quickly sliding his arms back around her and stealing another kiss. Before Natasha could say anything, Clint slid out the door.

"Goddammit Clint!" she called after him, unable to hold back a smile. So she had a fiancee _and _a dog. It was a good development.


End file.
